Coup Atlas Research Database
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15007301950ConspiracyMilitary coup

Paraguay, 1950 — military coup conspiracy

Paraguay (PRY)South America, AmericasJuly 30, 1950

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as a military and dissident coup conspiracy in Paraguay on 30 July 1950, during the early presidency of Federico Chaves of the Colorado Party's moderate democratico wing, who had come to power in 1949 amid the chronic instability that followed the 1947 civil war. Chaves imposed a state of siege within three weeks of taking office and used his emergency powers to attack the supporters of the ousted president Juan Natalicio Gonzalez and of former president Felipe Molas Lopez, as the fractured Colorado Party and disaffected army officers plotted against one another in a period of near-continuous conspiracy. No discrete documentation of a distinct plot precisely on 30 July 1950 appears in accessible English sources, but it fits the pattern of guionista and molista factional plotting against the new Chaves government.

The instability of these years ended only with Alfredo Stroessner's seizure of power in 1954, which began a 35-year dictatorship.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Federico Chaves suppressed factional plotting and governed until Stroessner overthrew him in 1954
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Federico Chaves (president of Paraguay, target)
Supporters of Natalicio Gonzalez and Felipe Molas Lopez (Colorado rivals)
Disaffected army officers (plotters)

Sources

Some stability was achieved after Federico Chaves was elected on 10 September 1949, but three weeks after taking office Chaves imposed a state of siege to attack the supporters of Gonzalez and of ex-President Molas Lopez.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, Dictatorship of Alfredo Stroessner open source ↗
After the 1947 civil war the Colorado Party became the only legal party and split between the hardline guionistas under Natalicio Gonzalez and the moderate democraticos under Federico Chaves.
SOURCE REVIEWED Study of Internal Conflict, Paraguay 1947 open source ↗
Gonzalez joined Morinigo in exile in 1949 and was succeeded by his rival Chaves in 1950, when power passed to the democratico wing of the party.
SOURCE REVIEWED Study of Internal Conflict, Paraguay 1947 open source ↗
The instability of these years ended only when Alfredo Stroessner seized power in a May 1954 coup that overthrew Chaves and began a 35-year dictatorship.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1954 Paraguayan coup d'etat open source ↗

Editorial Note

No discrete documentation of a coup plot precisely on 30 July 1950 in Paraguay was found in accessible English sources this session; the entry records the dataset's coding and the verified context of guionista and molista factional plotting against the new Chaves government under his state of siege, with the specific plot unconfirmed and flagged as context only. Continues the Paraguay run from batch 1.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
15007301950

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Federico Chaves suppressed factional plotting and governed until Stroessner overthrew him in 1954.

Baseline coding: Plot discovered and disrupted before execution. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

Chicago Daily Tribune

“Paraguay Coup Foiled; Report 100 Arrested,” July 31, 1950

New York Times

“Paraguayan Plot Discovered,” August 1, 1950

Washington Post

“Paraguay Puts Down Revolt, Report Says,” July 31, 1950

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

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